November 2003

Around the State

Around the State reports are welcome from county and specialty bar associations. There are no rules for writing them, except to mention lots of your members. We leave it up to each organization to decide who does it, and to the correspondent to decide how often. Many counties are still available. Contact the editor at tradelaw@thompson-law.com for more information.

The Bankruptcy Bar

J. Todd Tracy has been appointed co-chair of the Bankruptcy Section of the Federal Bar Association for the Western District of Washington. He practices with Ogden Murphy Wallace in Seattle. The section serves a liaison role between the bankruptcy judges and the lawyers practicing before them.

Cowlitz-Wahkiakum Report
by Our Local Correspondent

Heidi Heywood opened a new practice in Skamokawa in September. According to local historians, it is Skamokawa's first law office and also the first private practice established by a woman in Wahkiakum County. Her office is located in a 19th-century steamboat landing on the Columbia River, looking down toward Astoria.
 
This from Joe Daggy: A bunch of teed-off lawyers turned out to be a good thing last week as 10 teams took to the tees in the Cowlitz-Wahkiakum County Bar Association 8th Annual Golf Tournament. Forty golfers spent the day trying to keep their heads down on the fairway so they could hold them up later in the clubhouse. Sponsors this year included Noelle McLean and Court Administrator Nancy Williamson, who donated prizes for the event. Golfers also had a chance to win lavish cash awards. But the big winner this year was Cowlitz-Wahkiakum Legal Aid, which gained $770 from tournament proceeds. A big thanks goes to organizers Lindsey Cotterell, Angie Warning, and Noelle McLean, who did a stellar job on the event—especially the rules part.
 
Lindsey Cotterell (unless someone else wants the credit for it) created some "special" rules this year, which all the golfers appreciated. One rule allowed golfers to buy mulligan (do-over) tickets for $5 each. For golfers who correctly realized that repeating a costly mistake was not fun, there was also "string" available for an undisclosed amount. String allowed golfers to sink a putt without actually hitting the ball.

This year the foursome of Tom O'Neill, Mark Brumbaugh, Max Anderson, and Alex Styve was the team to beat. And everybody did beat them. They finished last with a one-over-par 73, to win a huge chocolate bar, narrowly beating, or losing to (depending on how you feel about chocolate), the team of Dave Nelson, Jim Morgan, Ms. Morgan, and Robert Roden, who gave them a real run for the chocolate, by finishing with an even par.
 
Judge Steve Warning, Kevin Warning, Dennis Maher, and Laura Maher, accompanied by Angie Warning, earned a respectable 10 under par, crediting their score to judicious use of string, creative mulligan work, and the bringing in of ringers like Kevin and Laura, who led their team to an $80 third-place victory.
 
Lindsey Cotterell, Alan Engstrom, Kevin Rahn, and Joe Daggy called their group "String Quartet," an egocentrism not entirely unreasonable, considering the legitimate eagle they earned when Daggy sank an approach shot from 180 yards out on the treacherous 14th dogleg-left water hole. But 13 under par was only good enough to earn second-place money of $100. Running out of precious string on the back nine, the quartet suffered a disappointing series of pars, remaining two strokes behind tournament leaders Tim Hanigan, Hank Hanigan, Heidi Heywood, and Duncan Cruickshank, who scored a record 15-under-par 57. "We are younger and in better shape than the other golfers," Heywood or somebody said, or might have said if anyone had asked.
 
Other teams faced difficulty from the beginning. Craig McReary, Jamie Imboden, Tim South, and Kurt Anagnostou first ran into trouble when Anagnostou failed to show up. Then Imboden lost valuable course-management time helping cartmate McReary retrieve golf balls that McReary had hit at other foursomes. South, by all accounts (well, at least his own account), played well until McReary —who had inexplicably been allowed to drive the cart—ran over South's clubs. Fortunately, Imboden later ran McReary down with the same cart, possibly adjusting the team's karma.
 
Judges Alan Hallowell, Milton Cox, and Jim Stonier, and their caddie, Chief Civil Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Ron Marshall, didn't play up to their normal skill level, in part due to the long robes interfering with the judges' back swings. Also, Marshall was too busy saying things like, "Great shot, Your Honor," and "May I approach the green?" to be able to provide the judges with expected precedent on the use of string and mulligans. Most of the lawyers agreed it was "a darn shame that Marshall held his foursome back."
  
Another luckless foursome, composed of Gary Bashor, Lori Bashor, ten-month-old Alex Bashor (who incidentally shot a career-best 72 under par), Thad Scudder, Trish Scudder, and Ryan Ralston, actually had six people in their foursome. "It was due to a math error," Bashor later said. Unfortunately, golf—even when played with string and mulligans—involves some basic math skills, like counting. At press time the Bashor "foursome" was still calculating its score. All participants in this year's tournament owe three big cheers to the organizers—except for the Bashor "foursome," which calculates that it owes somewhere between two and seven cheers (they'll get back to us on that).

The Judiciary
by Lindsay Thompson

President Bush has nominated U.S. Magistrate Judge Richard Martinez to a District Court judgeship in Seattle. Martinez was previously a King County prosecutor and a superior court judge.

Our Far-Flung Members

Peter R. Jarvis, formerly with Stoel Rives in Portland, has joined the National Law of Lawyering Practice Group of Hinshaw & Culbertson, a Chicago firm. He will continue practicing in Portland. Jarvis is a frequent writer and speaker on attorney discipline and ethical issues, as well as business law, in the Northwest.
 
John G. Goller practices in the areas of insurance coverage, products liability, toxic tort, and environmental law, and has joined von Briesen & Roper, s.c. in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Pierce County

Williams Kastner & Gibbs has added Melissa A. MacDougall to the roster in its Tacoma office. She does medical malpractice defense and civil litigation, and used to work for the Seattle city attorney and a Seattle law firm.
 
Linda I. Thomas, executive director of Gordon, Thomas, Honeywell, Malanca, Peterson & Daheim LLP attorneys, has been honored as one of the South Sound's "Women of Influence." The award is co-sponsored by Executive Women International and the Business Examiner. Thomas owned and managed several corporate ventures before joining the firm in 1999, served in the state Legislature, and wrote the booklet "Payroll Taxes Without Tears."

Spokane County

Ryan M. Best joined Spokane's Paine Hamblen firm during the summer. He practices tort-defense and personal-injury law. He graduated from Seattle Pacific University and Baylor School of Law.

Thurston County

Graham Lundberg & Peschel announced that John A. Hoglund became of counsel to the Olympia firm August 1. He was WSTLA president in 1984.

Whatcom County

The September Whatcom County Bar Association Newsletter had a community-service theme. Among other news, the association published a Pro Bono Resolution for 2003. It announces that the association commits to "expanding civil legal services for low-income persons in Whatcom County through LAW Advocates; urges all law firms and governmental employers to promote and support the involvement of pro bono civil legal services; and encourages its members and all practicing attorneys in Whatcom County to provide civil legal services to the poor in the following ways: (1) providing direct civil legal representation by accepting two civil cases per year through LAW Advocates; (2) providing advice and consultation services through LAW Advocates; and (3) providing a financial contribution or assistance with fundraising for LAW Advocates."

In Memoriam
Remembering our colleagues and friends

Tom Kingen
Longtime Spokane and Pullman lawyer

Thomas F. Kingen graduated from Washington State and Gonzaga School of Law and served two tours in Vietnam, reaching the rank of captain. He joined the WSBA in 1976. After practicing with former WSBA President Dick Eymann, Kingen joined the Spokane city attorney's office as lead trial attorney. He also practiced with the Perkins Coie and Preston Gates firms. After running for prosecuting attorney, he semiretired and worked as of counsel for a number of Spokane and Pullman governmental entities. He was active in a variety of civic organizations as well. Survivors include his wife, attorney Cheryl Demers Kingen, and three children.
 
Thomas F. Kingen was born in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and died July 16, 2003, aged 56.

Patrick Murphy
Attorney, athlete, horseman, Irishman

A British Columbia native, Patrick Murphy was educated in Vernon, B.C., before entering Gonzaga University to play hockey in 1939. After graduation from law school, he remained active in hockey as a player and referee. His interests also included golf and thoroughbred horses.
 
Murphy practiced law in Spokane for over 50 years, in partnership with the late WSBA president Mike Hemovich, Court of Appeals Judge John Schultheis, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge John Klobucher, and Spokane County Superior Court Judge Thomas Merrymann.
 
Survivors include his wife of 61 years, Mary Frances; four children; 10 grandchildren; and a sister.
 
Patrick H. Murphy was born in Enderby, British Columbia, and died August 19, 2003, aged 85.  

Back to table of contents >>